Digital cameras are becoming increasingly prevalent as a means for personal and recreational photography. Historically, color photography required complex photo processing, such as developing exposed images, a process that most often required a dark room or other special equipment. Because this process was often time-consuming and expensive, most people would take their undeveloped film to a photo lab or kiosk for developing. With the advent of digital photography, photo printing from home/office printers became possible. These home/office photo-quality printers allow users to print digital images on photo paper. However, because home printers must be maintained by the user, such as replacing empty ink cartridges and maintaining a supply of photo paper, users often consider the process expensive and time consuming. Subsequently, users often search for alternative print sources for large print jobs, such as retail service photo printers and online photo printing services.
While retail services, such as photo kiosks, can offer an economically competitive alternative to home printing, the process can be time-consuming and lack the privacy of home photo printing. Typically, kiosks and photo processing labs require a customer to stand in line at a photo kiosk where they upload their images, fill out an order form, pay a cashier, and finally wait at least an hour before the prints are done. Often a customer will leave and return within the next few days.
Online photo printing services offer an alternative to photo kiosks. These websites offer a customer a greater sense of privacy, while allowing a user to stay at home while placing an online print order for their digital photographs. However, PC and software complexities often add difficulty to this process. Typically, a customer will have to open a software package in order to access their digital images. These digital images then have to be uploaded to the website, where the user would then fill out an order form, specifying shipping and billing information. Some novice computer users, find this process an intimidating task, and prefer to use retail services where they can freely ask for assistance from a retail service employee.
Reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated, and specific language will be used herein to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended.